Aus beauty blogger

Hair care can be an arduous task and to be honest most time I’m too lazy to (hair) care. (;
So, when my normal routine can do all the work for me, I’m probably a little bit too excited.

I like to keep my hair low maintenance, so why I decided to ‘go blonde’ is beyond me. Any brunette to blonde will tell you, its an expensive rode to walk down to hair that is undeniably going to turn to straw if you don’t care for it. That, or just snap off…

So when I had my first round of bleaching I knew I had to get in on some hair care ASAP! thank goodness for Priceline, their hair care sale was just a few days after my appointment so I picked up some products that I’m going to share with you because, as luck would have it the Priceline hair care sale is happening this week: Thursday the 12th and Friday the 13th (oooohhh) of October.

The first products I added into my hair care regime were the ‘Sheer Blonde Colour Renew Tone-Correcting shampoo and conditioner by John Frieda. As you can see by the less than pristine packaging I used them all up! I really enjoyed this product and in fact I went to re purchase it but it was sold out of either the shampoo or the conditioner and I like using them as a set so I picked up something else instead.

Brass be gone: I found it knocked back the brassy tones that were showing through. I used this shampoo and conditioner 1 to 2 times a week and it kept my hair looking yellow blonde instead of orange blonde which I really liked.

Price: $17.99 each per 250ml – full price

Smell: Not that many will care, but this shampoo and conditioner smell so nice and leave the hair smelling so for at least two days afterwards.

Aftermath: The conditioner does a really nice job at eliminating breakages AND detangling. Because my hair is naturally fine, long and curly/wavy tangles are a constant which mean hair breakage and split ends are a daily struggle. This conditioner once massaged into the lengths of my hair made it easy to brush out. Hair felt silky and smooth for days.

When I went in to purchase the John Frieda again and saw that one was sold out, I came across the Fudge version. It’s the Fudge Clean Blonde Violet Toning Shampoo and Conditioner. Clean blonde… is that a play on words of dirty blonde? I don’t know, but it’s clever. It was slightly more expensive than the John Frieda, but there is more product so I thought, “eh, why not. People have recommended Fudge products in the past.. I’ll give it a go”. I’ll say it now. I really like this duo.

Brass be gone: Wow, this sometimes works too well! I have almost white blonde ends and if I use too much of this I feel like they go grey/silver/purple. I don’t hate it but just be warned. A little goes a long way. Apply it to hands and work through the lengths of your hair don’t apply straight to hair.

Price: $21.99 each per 300ml – full price

Smell: It smells sweet, like confectionary. Almost like lolly bananas? Totally odd but not at all unpleasant. It has a powdery sweet linger to the hair.

Aftermath: Apart from the possible purple ends, this duo does a great job at keeping the brass at bay. My hair tends to get a little bit fluffy if I leave it to air dry after washing, but my hair does feel very soft. I think it would work well on thicker hair that doesn’t tend to fly around like my fine hair does.

A word of caution. As you will see in a photo below, the shampoo is quite purple. I found once I’d finished in the shower there were purple toned water drops everywhere and I was worried it’d staid the grout in the tiles. (Raise your hand if you’re pedantic about tile grout 🙋🏻) it does however wash away easily.

Another note about staining, my fingernails are a violet colour. Especially around the cuticles. For a week I didn’t know how it had t washed off and then I realised it must have stained the roots / my scalp because every time I’d run my fingers through my roots or scratch my head my nails would be purple again so make sure you wash this product out super well. I’ve never had an issue with any other violet shampoo before. Just this one.

Once every one to two weeks I like to treat myself to a hair mask. My hair is naturally quite fine and dry and b cause of that, prone to breakage so I like to give it a boost every now and then. I’ve been using the Masque brand for a while and I’ve tried out 3 of their other masks and really enjoy them. Out of a packet this size I get at least 6 treatments.

Because I use purple shampoo and conditioner intermittently with my regular shampoo and conditioner I sometimes like to let this mask soak in and act as a deep conditioning toner treatment and I find it works quite well.

Brass be gone: I feel like it’s at the same level as the John Frieda. But because I can leave this on longer. It varies. Sometimes I mix in a tiny amount of the Fudge shampoo for a bigger kick.

Aftermath: No staining so that’s a plus. Hair is hydrated and smooth and has a decent amount of the brass kicked back. Hair smells nice and is super soft.

Here you can see the different variations of purple. In my mind the darker the colour the stronger the affect. Left to right is John Frieda, Fudge and Masque. This is only the shampoo (obviously the Masque is just the Masque) the conditioner of both are much more pale in colour.

You can see that the J/F is much more runny than the other two, and also the lightest. That being said I’d still use it again. The other two are quite thick. These swatches were on my hand for 5 mins maximum and the middle one (Fudge) did stain slightly.

After all is said and done, I’d still use any of these products again and I recommend you try them if you’re in the market from some purple shampoo. Just pay close attention when using the Fudge!

I’ve been in somewhat of a #MakeupRut recently. It happens every now and then, I get overwhelmed by my makeup collection and then just don’t know what to do with myself and all my pretty things! I’ve decided to give this a go. To inspire me to do looks, create new things and hopefully get myself back in the groove of putting stuff on my face!

I found this list on a beauty group on Facebook and I instantly fell in love with the options! I didn’t invent this list or the ‘challenge’ that is 30daysof….. etc. But I think it’ll be fun!

I will start from Friday the 1st of July 2016 and work my way through the days. I don’t usually wear makeup every day, but for this, I’ll make the exception.

As you can see, the list is nothing extreme. It has a great mix of ‘out there’ and do-able makeup looks. Everything is open to interpretation. I have a few things already planned for July including birthdays and I’m quite excited to do my makeup a little different for those!

To get inspiration, Pinterest is going to be my best friend! I always trawl through and add pretty looks to my Makeup Inspiration board.

The top three I’m really excited for are: Autumn makeup, Rockabilly and Lashes, Lashes, Lashes!
The top three that I’m a little worried for are: Ombre anything (I’ve not got a lot of practice doing ombre looks), I’d never wear this and 4 products only.

I’ll be posting my looks on instagram and hopefully be doing a weekly roundup here on my blog explaining what products I used!

If you’d like to be apart of this then I really encourage it! Use the hashtag #30daysofmakeup so we can all see everyones looks.

If you’re an Australian Blogger and you’re not apart of Bloggers United AU then you are missing out.

I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about Bloggers United AU before, and I bet you all know what LUSH is so to my delight I was invited to a somewhat exclusive event involving two of my favourite things! Bloggers and Bath goodies!

If you want to read about other BUA and LUSH events just click those links!

To save this post turning into an Oscars acceptance speech, I’ll get the “Thank you’s” out of the way now. A MASSIVE thank you to LUSH Marion for having us and a sincere heartfelt thank you to Bloggers United AU and especially our state reps Kate and Nici. They’ve done so much to unite the Adelaide bloggers and as corny as it sounds I actually feel apart of something. *play the music* I’d also like to thank: Jesus, my mum and all of you lovely people, WE DID IT!

The Event:
We were welcomed by the team at LUSH Marion some of whom I recognised from the previous event (they even recognised lil’ ol’ me) and I was complimented right away on my lipstick. (Jeffrey Star’s Blue Velvet). As I mentioned before, the event was somewhat exclusive the numbers were set by the store (so I’ve been told) and I think there would have been 15 of us in total. There was a lovely LUSH lady writing out name-tags for us as we entered. BEST. IDEA. EVER. I recognised nearly everyone from their blogs and instagram feeds but I couldn’t remember their actual name! (for some). It was mingle time and that meant PHOTOS!

The lighting in the store was great for products but atrocious for photos. The lights are all warm and most of them are down-lights. This meant we were all quite orange toned and horrid shadows were cast across our faces. Never the less, the selfie spree continued! This time bringing in Steph from Howtogirl.net. It was so nice to finally meet her after talking through instagram so much!

I was so happy to finally get a chance to use the big ‘Adelaide Event’ cut out after seeing it so much at the BUA event back in Feb.

It was now time for the talks! Each time there is a LUSH event they (obviously) tell you about the company. I find it fascinating to know all the different ingredients that are in the LUSH products. We had a short talk from each of the staff about certain products, learning all kinds of facts!

Someone obviously has to win, and in the end it was the Steph and Felicia – from thebeautyandthegeekau! Celebratory selfies, winners are grinners girls! These two were on fire when it came to the scavenger hunt, they won by a tie breaker. Great effort!

Shopping Time:Once the Scavenger hunt was over we had free reign over the store to shop till we dropped! It was really good to get time to wanter through LUSH it’s always so busy! But because there was just the small group of us, we had time with the staff to get a decent consultation if we needed and they were more than happy to offer any advice. Last event I picked up some shampoo and conditioner because at the time, my hair was beyond dry! But since cutting my hair I haven’t needed the extra care, so I decided to go with some skincare instead! I’ll be doing a seperate post about my LUSH Haul! So keep your peepers peeled! I do have to say thank you to Tom for helping me and for being super honest about what products to get. (:

Once we’d finished shopping, it was time for some last minute silly selfies! We took the opportunity to selfie with the BUA board. We got caught mid selfie by the photographer so the next two shots are like ‘Selfie-Ception’.

Gather round lovelies, its story time! I’ve been seeing this tag go around the bloggy world and I thought I might hop on board and do it. Super babes Sarah from PastelSparkles and Zoe from Zoesbeautyescape have done it and I want to be apart of the cool crowd and do it too! So, lets get to it!

If you want to do this tag, too, I’ll leave the questions (un answered) at the bottom of the post for you to copy and paste)

1. When did you first start getting into make up?

Like most, I’d always had an interest in it. I’d sit and ogle my mums collection. Then my older sister and I would steal it and play ‘dress ups’ to a certain degree. It wasn’t until I was maybe 14/15 that I started to wear it out of the house. I remember my sister helping me with eyeshadow before school on some days. Like many of you, I got into eyeliner early, I’d line my eyes like there was no tomorrow. I would use makeup as self expression, I wore blue and pink mascara (at the same time) to school. I was the weird outspoken but kinda shy arty kid. From there I’d always been into it.

2. What was the first make up you bought?

Probably foundation. I figured out early on that a good foundation is the key to a good face of makeup. I could use any old eyeshadows and make them work, but if the foundation wasn’t up to scratch then the whole thing went down hill.

3. What is the newest/oldest items in your collection?

Oldest: Probably a body shop bronzer.
I don’t know why I even own it, I’m not tanned at all. Its just sitting in my collection hardly used. Its so pretty though.

Newest: Urban Decay Vice 4 Palette. I only bought it last week along with some Too Faced goodies. ❤ Mecca.

4. Who is your celebrity make up idol?

Its tricky because celebrities tend to never wear the same makeup twice, ya know? But people who I always admire the makeup of – Taylor Swift – Can rock a red lip like no other, Mila Kunis – Queen of resting bitch face and a sharp smokey eye, Nina Dobrev – a goddess.

5. Who is your favourite YouTube guru?

For looks: Jaclyn Hill, Kathleen Lights, Tati, RachhLoves, (probably more but I can’t think of them)
For Reviews: Tati, RachhLoves, Julia Graf (probably more) I trust the opinions of these three ladies. They’re always to the point and actually know what they’re talking about without being dismissive or rude and have totally different styles of filming so its never boring!

6. What is a look/trend that you wish you could pull off?

Bright lipstick. I don’t know if its a confidence thing or if it just doesn’t suit my skin tone, but I just can’t wear it/don’t wear it often. I have no problems with dark lippy, blue, black, brown, green anything ‘weird’ like that. But bright lips is something I wish I had confidence in.

Makeup/Beauty wise this month I’ve been really trying to do ‘simple makeup’ which sounds a bit backwards to what I usually aim for. I’m quite content with my makeup collection at the moment and I really want to start using my palettes more instead of just buying them and staring at them. I love seeing when people have hit pan on a certain shadow which sounds strange but I want to love a product so much I need it every day. I’ve also stopped wearing makeup all the time. I’m having more ‘good skin days’ and I don’t want to smother it up with makeup. I can only think that my recent skincare kick has been benefiting me.

I’ve been really into the Tarte products lately and I’m beginning to think my life isn’t complete unless I’ve got some form of highlighter or illuminator on. I think this is something I need to invest in. I’ve been dying for my Tarte skin twinkle palette and I use my Carli Bybel X Bh Cosmetics highlighters almost daily. I need some good recommendations for highlighters. If you have any – send them my way!

With my insta, I’ve been trying to only post photos I’m really proud of. Which sometimes means not posting as much as I want to. But I’m so happy with how my feed is starting to look – even if insta has changed its chronological order to the algorithm. (YUCK)

On my personal / blog insta I’ve been posting a few food pics. I haven’t done that in such a long time. Cooking is something I really enjoy and I love sharing my creations. I am thinking about doing a smoothie blog post for my ‘go to’ breakfast smoothie. Its delicious and one of the easiest things ever and I really want to show it to you.

I want to start posting outfit posts. I’m not hugely into spending on fashion, but I know how to dress my body and my body shape which I know a lot of people of my aesthetic sometimes struggle to do. I don’t want to promote my body type OR disregard it. Everyone is different and just because something suits me, doesn’t mean it will suit everyone or that it won’t suit someone of a different body type. I want to start promoting self love. Working towards a healthy mind, not only a healthy body. Thats probably a project that will be slow to start with because I have no idea how to do any of it. But its something that I’ve been thinking about for a while.

Now, I’m not one to do ‘Monthly Favourites’, I love reading them, but I just suck at doing them. Which is kinda sad because I love sharing products that I’m currently loving. Today I’m here to share with you some products that I like that go on my face! Surprisingly there are a lot of highlighters in this lot of stuff, I didn’t expect that to happen. But I’m glad it did, I’m really excited to share with you some of my favourite ‘face’ products!

Unbeknownst to me at the time, but I kind of organised this photo into groups. The first three on the left side are for more of a dewy look, the three on the right side are more matte. The bottom two are liquid/cream products, then the next middle two are ‘primer’-esque products and the top two are liquid foundations. The column through the middle is powder. I honestly just threw it all together for the one photo. I think it worked out alright. It serves its purpose.

Prime:

Priming my face is something that I’ve recently started to make a beauty habit. Since discovering Kismet Jardin and working with them, using the Hydra Gem under my foundation has become apart of my morning routine. You can read my full review of it here. It works so well under foundation, for me being of the dry skin type using this product allows me to wear matte finish foundations without it clinging to my dry spots!

The QV Matte finish oil free moisturiser is a new product that was only released in stores April 1st. I didn’t know if it was going to be a good fit for me because I do have dry skin, but using this product on top of the Kismet Jardin Hydra Gem allows me to use super dewy finish foundations. I never knew that priming my face would have such benefits to the look and wear of my entire face of makeup. I now can’t live without these two products!

Foundation:

I’d been a lover of the L’Oreal True Match in the original formula for quite a while but sadly the finish clings to some of my dry spots, I finally make the decision to purchase the Lumi version of the foundation and it is perfection! I use this on top of the Hydra Gem and Matte moisturiser together and it gives my face the most flawless finish! I love this foundation so much and can see myself repurchasing it over and over!

The Maybelline foundation is something that I’d heard a lot about but had never picked up, but in the 40%off Cosmetics Priceline sale and I’m glad I did. I can wear this on top of the Hydra Gem and not even have to powder on top! It has such a nice natural finish. It lasts a really long time and doesn’t break down or separate which is a winner in anyones book. The shade I have is a little bit pink for me but I can get away with it, which is good because I’ve been using this foundation a lot lately and I don’t want to live without it.

Australis’ fresh and flawless face powder is a cult classic. I’ve been using it for years, and I’m never disappointed. It glides effortlessly over liquid foundation to add some extra coverage and to set. It also works so well on its own when I’m having those rare ‘good skin days’. I own it in a few shades and use them all at once. It is such an affordable product for everyday use!

Highlighters/Illuminators

There are a few here that are in my daily use rotation. A mix of different formulas and a wide range in brands, I’m really excited to share with you these products. From left to right the brands are: Williams Pro Makeup, Vani-T, Tarte and Face of Australia.

You can see here that there are different shades and vary in luminosity and glow. I use them all so much and would love for you to try some of these products!

Williams Pro: #SelfieGlo
This beautiful little diamond tub holds a loose pigment like highlighter that can be used all over the body. I’ve used it on the cheeks and cupids bow, as well as a brow highlight even as an eye shadow. It is gorgeous. It has a duo chrome finish to it from a pearly white to a warm pinky red/orange/gold? it sounds strange but it reflects the colours in your skin tone so well to make it look very natural. This product can be layered for more intensity, too. I really like to spray my brush with MAC fix+ and apply this as an eye shadow. It is so pretty!

Vani-T: Mineral Colour Stick – Ivory
I got sent this product by a mix up, but I’m happy to have it in my collection. I fell in love with Vani-T products after the Bloggers United AU Adelaide event and since then I’ve purchased more products, but this colour stick is such a beautiful warm highlight shade. It blends into the skin like butter, it is absolutely gorgeous. Because it is a cream product, you can set it with a powder highlight and it makes everything absolutely pop! I LOVE this product and will probably purchase some more of the colour sticks. They’re universal!

Tarte: Rainforest of the Sea ‘Skin Twinkle’ lighting palette:
I picked this up in the 40% off Tarte sale a little while back and to say I was excited was an understatement! The two shades swatched here are: (L-R) Sunlight (champagne gold) and Moonlight (rosy pearl). These are so pretty and perfect for daily glow but as always, like all highlighters can be layered for intensity. The products are so smooth they look and feel like cream, but they are powder and some of the finest powders I own. The shade in the middle is a matte shade that I use for setting my under eye area. You can see the dent taken out of it, I really do like that powder. (its not swatched though).

Face of Australia: Mineral Therapy Illuminator – Angel Mist
You can mix this in with your foundation for an all over dewy glow, use it as an all over face primer for that ‘back lit’ glow from within look, or tapped on the cheeks bones and other ‘general highlight’ areas. It blends so easy. It is a liquid product so a little goes a long way! Its a pinky / pearl / shell illuminator and it does a great job of bringing out that natural glow.

And there you have it! These are some of the products that I’ve been really liking so far! If you want an in-depth review on any of the products in this blog, just ask and I’ll get to it!

Target/Aim: ‘… to provide long lasting moisture to help skin look hydrated, radiant and glowing’

Skin Type: Suited for Dry Skin but aimed at any skin that needs moisture.

Smell: The smell is somewhat like cherry medicine scent – like the rest of the Hydro Boost range. It doesn’t linger nor do I find it unpleasant.

Texture: Each is a stretchy cloth mask that feels slippery and like gel.

Colour: White and the gel is clear.

Directions: “To use, remove mask and unfold gently stretching the fabric cloth to cover your entire face, press lightly with finger tips to set in place and relax for 15 minute allowing the essence nourish your skin. Ideal for use at night, once the fabric mask is removed the concentrated formula works beneath the skin to continuously hydrate whilst you sleep.”

What the packaging says:

Use after cleansing, open pack, take out mask and unfold.
Gently stretch the mask leftwards and rightward to cover your entire face.
Press lightly with fingertips to set in place over face. Relax for 15mins and remove mask. Manage remaining maskhydrating essence on face. There is no need to rinse off the essence. Discard the sheet after use. Ideal for use at night.

New Information:

Application: I’m getting better at applying it now. I’m not being so delicate with it and I’m really impressed at how it hasn’t ripped.

Dry Time: I kept this mask on for 20 – 25 minutes

5 mins in: Still haven’t gotten used to the cold shock of when I apply it. But because I was just relaxing playing xbox and not really moving my mouth etc around much, I didn’t have an issue with the moustache strip becoming loose.

10 mins in: Still nice and stuck to my face!

Just before removal: Once I felt like I’d had enough of the mask, I simply peeled it off. Easy Peasy!

Removal process: Easy Peasy!

Instant results: My skin felt super nice and squidgy, like always.

10 mins after: I wanted to see how well this mask worked with other products so I used the night cream from the Hydro Boost line with this mask. It felt so good!

Next morning: I think because I used the night cream as well, my skin was just in hydro heaven.

Visible change: Skin is very supple. No dry areas.

I’m becoming desensitised by the freaky-ness of this mask. I really love the Hydro-Boost sheet masks. Used in conjunction with the other products from this line I can see that my skin will just love me for it.

I used the night and day moisturiser this time with the mask and can’t wait to do a review of all the products at once! They’re perfect for people with dry skin or just anyone who needs a moisture boost! With winter coming up I think a moisturising mask once a week can really improve things!

I’ll be doing a full review on the range soon!

Tonight I played some xbox with my partner. We played a few games – it was really fun. One in particular called ‘Cactus’ that I really liked. It reminds me of ‘Hero’s Duty’ from Wreck it Ralf mixed with ‘Sugar Rush’ also from WiR. The characters are all super cute girls with guns and its a basic top down shooter game. I think I might do a review of it. So keep an eye out for that in the future if you’re interested.

Here are a few photos from the game. Its really fun and easy to play for someone who might not be as experienced.